This invention relates to a data communication apparatus and method for data transmission/reception.
Conventionally, in apparatuses of this type, e.g., facsimile apparatuses, information can be obtained only from a transmitting side, i.e., a telephone number of a receiving-side facsimile apparatus, transmission start time, the result of the transmission etc. managed as transmission management information. In facsimile apparatuses having a LAN (Local Area Network) interface, a received facsimile document is transferred to a terminal connected to a LAN, based on a predetermined address table or the like.
However, in a conventional facsimile apparatus, when communication between the facsimile apparatuses has been completed, it is impossible to determine whether the facsimile document has been transferred to the terminal connected to the LAN or a user of the terminal which is logged on to the network.
In addition, in a conventional facsimile apparatus, even the receiving side knows the fact that a receiver terminal on the LAN designated by the transmitting side is not present on the LAN, this cannot be informed to the transmitting side. Further, in spite of the fact that the conventional transmission-management information can be independently managed with a document identifier by the transmitting side and the receiving side, the information is not commonly managed by both sides.